Surviving Prometheus
by mjf2468
Summary: An alternate take on the events happening after episode 5 x 23. Oliver with William watched as Lian Yu exploded, with all of his loved ones on the island. Who survived and who didn't? Any enemies left on the island, or will they be able to get home safely? A different take on the show.


Summary: What might have happened after episode 5 x 23. Oliver with William watched as Lian Yu exploded, with all of his loved ones on the island.

Disclaimer: WB/DC own these characters. I'm only borrowing them for a while. I own the original ideas found in this. Some dialogue from the episode 5 x 23 "Lian Yu', written by Wendy Mericle and Marc Guggenheim.

 **AN: In a way, the summer hiatus went by so fast in that I didn't get this done and posted like I wanted. This entire story will now be AU, mostly. Or maybe a correction, as I see it.**

The two men stood facing each other, eyes never leaving the other. The waves were increasing in their strength, lapping against the boat, because of the stronger wind, but neither man noticed. Nature appeared to match the mood of the villain who had brought everyone Oliver loved to the island. Dark and unforgiving.

As he stood in front of Oliver and William with a gun aimed at the young boy, ignoring the elements, Adrian smiled a most deadly and patronizing smile. "You won. Your son has his father back, and he learned exactly who his father was. In the exact spot where you learned who your father was." Pausing, Adrian emphasized the next point. "On these very same waters. How ironic."

Oliver looked at the man in front of him, unable to get the point he was attempting to make. "What do you mean?"

"William's younger than you were, so he's gonna be fine, you know. And you have each other."

"What are you saying?"

Adrian continued as if Oliver hadn't interrupted. "Which is good. Oliver, that's good because it's gonna be lonely without Mom and Felicity."

Frozen in place, Oliver could only watch as Adrian raised the gun and pressed it to his own forehead. Before Oliver could move, Adrian had pulled the trigger. Oliver pulled the boy into his arms, turning his body so William's head was burrowed into his jacket, preventing the young boy from seeing the immediate effects of the gunshot. Of the villain taking his own life, and the resulting chaos it made on his body.

Then the sounds Oliver didn't ever want to hear began. Turning around, with William still hidden within the shelter of his arms, Oliver watched as the shoreline of Lian Yu erupted in explosion after explosion. All Oliver could do was stand still, locked into place, not believing what he was seeing. The island of his nightmares was basically exploding in front of his eyes. With almost all of his loved ones somewhere in the chaos.

"Oliver…Oli…I mean, Dad, what's going on?" a small voice came from below him, and he felt a tugging on his Arrow jacket.

As much as he wanted to, Oliver couldn't get his mind to process what just happened. He absently patted William's shoulder as he tried to force his mouth to say the words. Felicity, Thea, Digg…Samantha…Staring as flames engulfed the island he had despised for too many years, Oliver could only hope his loved ones had somehow, miraculously, survived.

Thoughts of the young boy's mother made him move. He led William to the passenger seat and instructed him to buckle up and to keep looking forward. Oliver then turned to look behind him at the bloody mess which once had been a living man and threat to all those he loved. He bundled the dead body in his arms and carried it down the stairs to the lower level of the boat. Ignoring the childish desire to kick the corpse as he left it on the floor, Oliver turned and headed back to the cabin of the boat.

Oliver started the boat and headed back to the shore as he watched for further explosions, aftershocks…signs of life. Anything. Any sign of all that the people he cared about the most in the world were all right. Were still alive. The young boy beside him didn't make a sound, staring straight ahead.

Oliver stopped the boat a mile away from the beach he knew so well. "William, we're going to sit here and watch. If you see anything, let me know. We need to let the ground settle, and cool off, before we can walk around."

To pass the time, Oliver asked about William's life over the past year, the friends he'd made, even with being the new kid in school and which subjects he liked best in school. Oliver was proud to hear William enjoyed school, knowing he must have gotten that trait from his mother, yet he enjoyed baseball as well. Even though his heart was breaking, Oliver knew he needed to distract the boy as much as possible from thinking about what possibly had happened to his mother. At least until they had irrefutable proof that she…that they…did not survive.

After three hours, Oliver guided the boat into shore. After beaching the boat, Oliver assisted William out of the boat. He scanned the surroundings as far as his eyes could see, debating about whether to leave William on the boat. Whether it be safer, due to possibly unsafe ground. From his location, he couldn't detect the amount of dangers hidden within the forest.

"Uh, Dad, what's wrong? Please tell me, I'm old enough to know."

Oliver looked down into the earnest blue eyes which were so familiar, as though he was looking into a mirror, and tried to smile. "We'll have to go looking for your…" he cleared his throat. "For your mother and my friends. It might be a long walk."

William pulled himself up to his tallest and said, "I can keep up, Dad. Let me come with you."

Oliver smiled a small, genuine smile and ruffled his hair. "All right." He looked around once again, taking in everything and nothing at the same time. Nothing came to mind as to which direction they should take. What if they were all…like Adrian had said. Oliver pushed that thought away from his mind. He had more important things to think about. There were places on the island where they could've taken shelter…surely, they would've done that. _Could_ have done that. Knowing he was fighting Adrian and anything could happen. Oliver swallowed. Felicity would've made sure of that.

"Let's head that way," he said to his son, pointing to their right. Towards the Supermax prison. Hoping it had withstood the force of the bombs, and they had taken shelter there. _If_ they had the time to get there.

They had barely taken ten steps when Oliver heard his name called. He turned around, assuming a defensive position. However, he breathed a sigh of relief as Lyla came running up to him and into his arms. He hugged her, taking a moment's comfort in a friend's arms. Preparing for whatever might be ahead.

"What happened? We were still miles out when we heard the explosions," Lyla said, looking at the uprooted trees and the intermittent holes in the ground, trying to figure out what had happened.

"Adrian set explosives around the entire island on a dead man's switch. William and I were on the boat with him when…when…" Oliver had to stop to clear his throat again. "When he shot himself in the head. The explosives went off almost immediately."

Oliver watched as Lyla's face paled and she swayed a little on her feet. Oliver grabbed her by her upper arms, to provide her with support. "William and I were off to…to look for them."

"Who was on the island at the time?" Lyla asked, her face pale, her lips trembling slightly.

"Everyone." Oliver repeated in a quieter tone, "Everyone." He looked out at what was left of the forest. "At least Digg and Felicity were together. With Thea, Curtis, Lance, Dinah, Rene and Nyssa. And Slade."

Lyla's eyebrows raised at the list of names and looked at Oliver with a pointed glance. "Adrian had my team. I had to go outside the norm for help."

"Slade? Oliver, really?"

"Yeah, Felicity wasn't too happy about it either. But he has changed. The Mirakuru is out of his system now. He ended up being very helpful. Invaluable, in fact." Forcing a deep swallow, he continued as he remembered his last conversation with the IT woman, "Felicity and I were going…" _To talk about it later tonight, she said._ Several tears formed in his eyes as he tried to blink them away. He shook his head and cleared his throat. "How many patrols did you bring with you?"

Lyla blinked at the sudden change of topic but answered. "Yes, they are searching." Oliver suddenly realized she had brought others with her who were now waiting for her orders.

Switching to her leader mode, Lyla turned and spoke to her troops. "Company C, you go search the north side of the island. Company D, search to the south."

Turning her attention to the small shadow behind Oliver, Lyla crouched down and said, "So I assume you are William?" She reached out her hand to the boy.

After looking up at Oliver, who nodded, William stepped forward and shook Lyla's hand. "Yes, I'm William Clayton. Do you know my mom?"

"Um…" Lyla looked at Oliver, who nodded, agreeing to the white lie. "Yes. Yes, I do. And I'm going to help you find her." Speaking to Oliver, she said, "I'm sorry I don't have a faster way to get there besides walking."

Oliver shrugged. "At least this way we can search the woods, for any helpful sign of…of whatever."

Lyla smiled a brave smile. "Yes, there is that." Looking down, she offered her hand to William. "Would you like to keep me company as we walk?"

William again looked at Oliver who nodded. "I'll be right behind you."

~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~

"I'm sure Oliver found some cover and had William with him. I'm sure they're both safe," Thea said to the other two women sitting next to her against the wall of the ARGUS prison.

Felicity looked at Oliver's younger sister as she attempted to make her and William's mother feel better. Samantha was sitting on Felicity's other side, looking blankly around, as if she was attempting to process the world around her but failing miserably.

Felicity reached for Samantha's hand. It was stone-cold. She was certain her own hand wasn't any warmer, but she gave Samantha's hand a squeeze. "Yes, Samantha. Oliver went to find him. He never fails."

Felicity watched as Samantha swallowed deeply and her eyes searched out Felicity's own. "Are you sure? Can you say that with even an ounce of certainty? My boy could be dead for all we know."

Samantha then gave into the sobs which had been threatening to overflow. Felicity gave Thea a small shake of her head as she gathered the other woman in her arms. Her own tears were at the surface, but she was fully determined not to give into them until absolutely all hope was lost.

Instead Felicity let her mind wander back to that last kiss. Which she hoped with all her being was not actually their 'last' last kiss. She meant every word she had told Oliver. How she regretted letting her fear keep them separated, how she now understood him completely, that it wasn't his distrust of her that kept them apart, it was his distrust of himself. Distrust whether he could ever fully commit to a person, even to the love of his life, and how he has now completely laid that fear to rest.

She hoped they would have the chance to fully experience what that meant to them going forward. She hoped with all her heart.

Her mind then wandered to the narrow escape they had. How Slade had persuaded them to head for the Supermax for shelter, just in case. In case that SOB Adrian blew up the entire island. When she and Thea had to pull William's mother down into the shelter against her will, preventing her from running foolishly into the woods looking for her son.

Felicity had hoped it was one big psyche-out. Wasn't that a possible ploy of all super-criminals? To psyche out the heroes into thinking they were planning on destroying everything but not really going through with it? Deep down, though, Felicity knew Chase was really that psychotic to go through with killing himself if it would also destroy Oliver. And that was what Felicity was worried about the most.

She watched as Slade walked over to her and sat down beside her on the ground, leaning against the wall. Seeing that face once again, even though he did save them from the blast with his idea, still unconsciously unsettled Felicity. Until she forcibly reminded herself of how he had changed. And how extremely helpful he had been. Saving their lives and all that.

"I wish to apologize for threatening your life two years ago," his raspy but sexy voice said to her.

"I don't mean to offend you, but…."

"But you don't want to talk about it now? In case the Kid didn't make it?"

"Well, I guess I'm just not in the mood to…to forgive you at this time." Felicity cringed at her painful honesty. "Even though you did save our lives."

"You don't have to. I would like you to forgive me at some point, but, of course right now you have other things on your mind." The craggy face split itself with a crooked grin. "Come on, you know the Kid is okay. He's survived worse than this. Hell, he survived _me_."

And Felicity thought she would faint as the Australian gave her a wink.

Suddenly she couldn't help but be swayed by his charm. And the sudden gladness overwhelmed her of seeing the person who had helped Oliver survive his first year on the island in front of her instead of the psychotic killer Slade had been when she first met him. She smiled back at him and nodded. Returning his smile, she asked, "Well, how can I argue with that type of logic?"

Digg walked up to them, looking thoughtful as his gaze took in both Felicity and Slade. "How are you doing, Felicity?"

Felicity met her friend's concerned gaze with a determined smile. "I'm hanging in there. Trying to stay positive."

Digg turned to Slade and held out his right hand. "Wanted to thank you again for saving us with this idea."

Slade took the offered hand and gave it a firm shake. "Just glad we had enough time to get us all down here before that scum Chase killed himself."

Startled, Felicity leaped upon that glimmer of hope. "Do you think that's what happened?"

Slade smirked as he said, "It would be a villainous move to make. Especially after you told Oliver about the dead man's switch, after all."

Digg asked, "What did you think, Felicity? That Oliver would go ahead and kill Adrian anyway?"

"I thought maybe Chase might have tricked Oliver into doing that very thing." Felicity pulled the loose hair away from her face in agitation, tightening her ponytail. "I gave up trying to understand that psychopath a long time ago."

Diggle gave her a comforting smile. "Why don't you lie down and rest, Felicity? I'm sure when you wake up we'll have more answers."

Felicity rolled her eyes at his attempt at reassurance, but he was correct. She was so very tired, so she turned to the two other women and encouraged them to lie down to rest as well. Despite her doubt, she ended up falling asleep almost immediately.

 **AN: Thanks for reading this chapter of a new story. I tried to make it realistic within the way I wanted it to go. Hope it played out that way. Let me know what you think, if it makes sense. Reviews are always appreciated. Despite that, I liked how I wrote the interactions between the various characters. Whether it's realistic about them all surviving, and where they hid, I still stand by the way I had written it.**


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